5 Common B2B Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

Lately, we have been informing you on various marketing topics, tips and techniques that you should do. This time around, we are going to focus on what you should not be doing. Below, we have compiled a list of five common marketing mistakes that B2Bers face every day.

1) Thinking that B2Bs and B2Cs are more different than they are similar

B2Bs and B2Cs are more similar than you may think and you can definitely adopt several B2C strategies and implement them into your own. The main difference between the two is that in B2B marketing you are targeting another business whereas in B2C marketing, you are directly targeting the consumer. At the end of the day, you are still sending promotional and informational messaging to people who have specific interests, needs and wants. You are also continuously building and nurturing relationships with your customers. This could be in terms of a salesman forming a business relationship with a potential client, building trust with your online following through your social media efforts, and so on.

2) You limit yourself to only targeting senior-level executives

Yes, the higher-ups tend to have the final say in most, if not all, business decisions, but they’re also not the ones doing a lot of the groundwork necessary to get to these decisions. Depending on the company size, lower-tiered employees are normally the ones who are involved in the beginning phases of the decision making process, such as initial research, communication, sometimes negotiating, etc. The CEO and other top executives don’t necessarily have time to go through the initial steps in the buying decision process. So if you’re having trouble breaking through the C-suite, regroup and try aiming for these other employees.

3) Not having a social media presence

Successful marketers say that having a social media presence is just as important as having a website. We’re not saying that you have to be on every social media platform, but you definitely want to be on either Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or all three. Not every type of business belongs on every platform, so choose the platforms that work best for you and your brand.

4) Forgetting the millennial audience

You hear the word ‘millennial’ and your first thought is of a broke 22 year old college student. You’re forgetting that ‘millennials’ are an entire generation of business and tech savvy people ranging from 19-37 years old. That’s a significant amount of people you could, and should, be doing business with.

5) Your content and copy is general and unspecific

If your creative assets are the same as everyone else’s, what makes you so special that people should choose you over anyone else? Nothing is more unappealing than bland copy with mediocre graphics. Set yourself apart from your competition. What makes you different? Feed on that and create an aesthetic, graphics, and messaging that customers will want to be associated with.

There are certainly more mistakes marketers make when it comes to B2B marketing, but these are the most common. So until next time…